Focus 2020 – The Great Commission: Perspectives from LeadersSample

Courage to Run into a Riot 

Bible passage: 

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6) 

Devotional: 

Think about that. Anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists. What a curious statement! The author of Hebrews is speaking to a Christian audience, so of course they believe that God exists! But what does it mean to truly believe that? 

I was born and raised in the center of Amsterdam, near the edge of the infamous Red-Light District. My parents were missionaries there in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, at the height of the punk rock movement. 

My dad tells the story of a group of English soccer fans who were in town and had decided they wanted to fight with the drug dealers. Our family’s apartment overlooked the main drug trafficking street, and they could see about 80 people gathering, armed with bricks, bottles, and clubs. Screams and the sound of breaking glass reverberated through the nearby buildings as the battle began to rage. It was a full-blown riot. 

Suddenly, a solitary police car screeched into the parking lot across from our building. An officer jumped out of the car and ran into the angry mob, rubber baton in hand. Then something surprising happened. Although the mob could have eaten this guy for lunch, they instead dropped their makeshift weapons and fled down a nearby alleyway, with the lone officer with the rubber stick in hot pursuit. 

In a moment of lucidity, the police officer realized what he was doing, clearly became frightened, and wasted no time retreating to the relative safety of his police car. But for a few crazy moments, that policeman had believed in what he represented. He had been convinced that the power and the authority of the law was greater than that of the unruly mob. 

THAT is what believing God exists looks like. Believing God exists means that I am so convinced of the authority and power of the One I represent, that I would run into the middle of riot for His sake. For it is in the riots—those moments when we have lost the illusion of control and depend entirely on God—that we experience His supernatural power. 

If this year has taught me anything, it’s that our plans, strategies, and wise rhetoric are not even close to accomplishing the Great Commission. The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:20, “The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” 

If we are to see the task we have been called to finished in our lifetime, I am more convinced than ever that we need a supernatural outpouring of God’s power. 

Question: What does it mean for you to have the kind of faith that would lead you to run headlong into a riot? 

Aaron Pierce 

Executive Director, Steiger International